The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1887-11-06
'1rsrsrr,s 1ArAE roHoH.

| WHY naras are Drawn e Destructisa-
Their Biisht ~ Might Mites Aseve ths
Earth-A Recent eeientinc Discovery shss
was Made By Accident In an Observatory.
An ordinnry-looking market basket, hlled
with iifeless birds, was taken into tho Ameri-
can Museum OF Natural History In Central
Park few days ago The birds were some OF
those which lost their lives while beating
blindly in the glazing light Of Liberty's electric
torch on Bedlow's Island. Most OF the birds
were small; among them were half dozen
| species of the swallow, innocent little wrens,
the raven blackbird, with spots Of crimson
under its wings, and. largest OF ALL specimen
Of the Carolina rail, which Southern sports
men love to hunt. None Of the birds
appeared to be bruised, and Prof ]. A. Allen.
tho ornithologist OF the Museum. as he sx-
amined them. remarked that birds which were
killed around lighthouses generally died from
fright and exhaustion quito as much % from
any conclusion.
at is quite easy to kill most BIRDS" no
added; grasp Thorn around the body under
the wings. making the fingers meet and In
few moments they will cease to breathe.
have oven killed hawk In this manner,
though would not advise any one not an OK
pert to try tho experiment with such bird"
How is It that these birds are killed ct
night7 Do not birds rest at nightT
"That Is perhaps the most interesting fea-
ture In connection with this destruction OF
birds at Bedlow's Island. 1t is question that
Is interesting ornithologists great deal Just
now. For long time they have believed that
birds travel BY night during the migrating Pc
RODS, but there was no actual proof Of this fact
and no apparent way Of ascertaining 1t until
recently Now 1t is pretty well establish
cd that many birds fly by night dur
ing migration. resting and feeding during
tho day. The knowledge was confirmed
only few years ago. and BY accident
Prof. Young. the astronomer, was making OBJ
servations one night from tho Princeton OBJ
servatory with friend who Is an ornithologist.
The latter observed when the telescope was
faii. that dark objects. irequently daTted past
the instrument; Prof. Young said that they
Was able not n only to Confirm this but By The
power OF tho Instrument to name the family to
Sgns At she dssance %
time the astronomical observations were aban-
and ns5pn ss wss to an
tyres to think 81 them yinE stteadiIy along
planned iIsauentlS several miles above re
it soatS 's ne 1lepIts SeH
h R River %n s Wiz
from the, Connecticut River valley. In past
ages. geologistts say, the HudsoR Kiysr ran Tor
%Ss RsPT 7?Gs RHf The
East River was the channel through which an
after siH: Coming FAR through the New England
States: Tho line q THIS iindentation, e stu
n ss hS scsE 1
lions, over which. for hundreds Of csnturtss.
a' " TSers saHsd: IL lie
and her aamins torch viii alysys Be- q fatal
sss . isss Iitsly 70 Converge until they have
How. lar this custom Of travelling. By night
extends among, the many species Of birds re-
Fa ns s b Sn no@
e. SsSE e ,hs $SS%%nss STd: n s Fiji q
II was condusted nom briyste Observatory
The instrament W. was directed over i the RSdson
River valley. toloWing the moon % she rose: rose:
sc
s5s snd rs.s xs GnS ss4 . If sas tie
WIN re earth: Ia The small srsa scvsred, y
sSs evening Until dsyIieSt, ths nsSt moEnins:
but there were also number Of Carolina rails,
The hight Of The birds. Mr.. Chapman says, is
81 al hSsr hS uds
n bs tn
ts same the Ellis sGne he vsess
ad vh the general sGnte Of t the rS
i i from which the bird is to y, It does
begin to descend from their high altitude 70
slishs where they find satisiactGry neigh.
and the birds then seek rest in the more re:
tired undeFb.psh; Towasd evening they feed
their hight upward They DO rot always con:
arS thsr g sSs
sSfS Rsssss q 81 the neshborhcod in Which they
The dilsf , SPECIES y in n1Sets, which yaFy
sens
YIN probably carry than 500 miles o. their
&c as soas as Meaco
tSs Rer 81
States around the Gull Of Mexico. A
in pursuit. Of rail-. The usual ground To- them
which would one day be deserted would on the
next morning swarm with game which had ar:
rived by night, when no one was observing and
for which none could account.
OF clear night the rays Of light from the
and the srs yas
the statue not sufficiently high to escape the
power Of the light suddenly become blinded to
brightness produces dense black wall. and
all the helpless creatures can do is to beat
backward and forward within this circuit until
they fall frightened or exhausted or dash
themselves recklessly on tho light which has
lured Thorn to destruction.